SRC sponsors research in Abu Dhabi

PORTLAND, Ore.—The Semiconductor Research Corporation (Research Triangle, N.C.) is participating in its first international semiconductor research center, to be located in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emerites (UAE).

Founded with funding from the Advanced Technology Investment Company LLC (ATIC), the Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research, and the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, the new ATIC-SRC Center of Excellence for Energy Efficient Electronic Systems (ACE4S) will receive $5 million in seed funding, matched collectively by the Masdar Institute and Khalifa University, for a total initial budget of $10 million for its first three years.

The mission of the ACE4S was defined in cooperation with SRC members including AMD, Applied Materials, Freescale, Globalfoundries, IBM, Intel, Mentor Graphics, Texas Instruments and Tokyo Electron.

"As our first international center, the ACE4S has been established with industry guidance from our member companies, and will build on SRC-sponsored university research supporting 15 individual researchers in the UAE," said SRC President Larry Sumney.

Microchips developed at the Advanced Technology Investment Company LLC aim to bootstrap Dubai into the 21st century before the United Arab Emirates' oil revenue starts drawing down circa 2030.

Globalfoundries will serve on ACE4S's Technology Advisory Board (TAB) and will assign an Abu Dhabi-based industrial liaison to oversee design enablement, deployment of design-for-manufacture tools, and design tape-outs for the ACE4S's prototype chips which will be fabricated by GlobalFoundries. Research will be conducted primarily at Khalifa University and Masdar Institute, with cooperative efforts at UAE University, American University of Sharjah, and New York University in Abu Dhabi.

Applications for ACE4S's efforts will aim for next-generation energy-efficient systems-on-chips (SoCs) that fit into the UAE's vision for a post-oil era of innovation-based technologies--circa 2030--with particular emphasis on consumer electronics, medical electronics and the wireless Internet-of-Things (IoT). Energy efficiency in particular will be developed with specific research programs in energy harvesting, power management, self-powered sensors and easy-to-deploy wireless communications networks.

The ACE4S's first goal will be to demonstrate prototypes in healthcare by the end of its third year--along with an Intellectual Property Management Plan (IPMP)--that addresses the relevant issues in safety, security, water quality and other environment factors.

Musk has recently promised a 30K$ Tesla. So Middle East is trying hard for an alternate revenue source. Sadly they have entered the wrong industry, and unlike selling oil, other industries have some competition.